Government House is the official residence of the

Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick The lieutenant governor of New Brunswick (, in French: ''Lieutenant-gouverneur'' (if male) or ''Lieutenante-gouverneure'' (if female) ''du Nouveau-Brunswick'') is the representative in New Brunswick of the monarch, who operates distinctly within ...

. Located in

Fredericton Fredericton (; ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of New Brunswick. The city is situated in the west-central portion of the province along the Saint John River (Bay of Fundy), Saint John River, ...

, it stands on a 4.5 ha (11 acre) estate along the Saint John River in the provincial capital at 51 Woodstock Road; while the equivalent building in many countries has a prominent, central place in the territorial capital, the site of

New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...

's Government House is relatively unobtrusive within Fredericton, giving it more the character of a private home.

History

Intended to replace the residence of the colonial Lieutenant Governors of New Brunswick that burned down in 1825, Government House was erected between 1826 and 1828 on the site of the former

Acadian The Acadians (; , ) are an ethnic group descended from the French who settled in the New France colony of Acadia during the 17th and 18th centuries. Today, most descendants of Acadians live in either the Northern American region of Acadia, ...

settlement of Sainte-Anne, and served as meeting place for the viceroy and his Executive Council, balls, and state dinners. In 1890, however, Lieutenant Governor

Samuel Leonard Tilley Sir Samuel Leonard Tilley (May 8, 1818June 25, 1896) was a Canadian politician and one of the Fathers of Confederation. Tilley was descended from United Empire Loyalists on both sides of his family. As a pharmacist, he went into business as ...

felt the maintenance budget for the house was insufficient and consequently relocated, after which the former viceregal residence took on other roles. From 1896 to 1900, it served as New Brunswick's Institute for the Deaf and Dumb, was a military barracks through

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, a soldiers' hospital following the war, and, from 1934 to 1988, was the J Division regional headquarters of the

Royal Canadian Mounted Police The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; , GRC) is the Law enforcement in Canada, national police service of Canada. The RCMP is an agency of the Government of Canada; it also provides police services under contract to 11 Provinces and terri ...

. In 1958, it was designated as a

National Historic Site of Canada National Historic Sites of Canada () are places that have been designated by the federal Minister of the Environment on the advice of the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada (HSMBC), as being of national historic significance. Parks C ...

, and in 1996 it was designated provincially under the Historic Sites Protection Act. Only on 1 July 1999, after two years of extensive renovation and restoration of the structure and its interiors, was the mansion returned to viceregal service in a ceremony including representatives of the

Maliseet The Wolastoqiyik, (, also known as the Maliseet or Malecite () are an Algonquian-speaking First Nation of the Wabanaki Confederacy. They are the Indigenous people of the Wolastoq ( Saint John River) valley and its tributaries. Their terri ...

First Nation, the ancestors of which performed dances on

New Year's Day In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Day is the first day of the calendar year, January 1, 1 January. Most solar calendars, such as the Gregorian and Julian calendars, begin the year regularly at or near the December solstice, northern winter ...

164 years earlier, both times to demonstrate the importance of the relationship between them and the Crown.

Use

Government House is where visiting dignitaries are greeted and often stay while in Fredericton. It is also where numerous vice-regal events take place, such as the bestowing of provincial awards or inductions into the

Order of New Brunswick The Order of New Brunswick is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of New Brunswick. The order was instituted through the ''Order of New Brunswick Act'', which was granted royal assent on 20 December 2000. The order is intended ...

, as well as luncheons, dinners, receptions, and speaking engagements. It is also at the vice-regal residence that the lieutenant governor drops the writs of election, swears-in new members of the Executive Council, and holds audiences with the

premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of govern ...

. The property is owned by the King in Right of New Brunswick and, as mandated before its renovation in 1996, is open to the public. In that vein, the grounds of the

vice-regal A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the Anglo-Norman ''roy'' (Old Frenc ...

estate are frequently the site of public celebrations, such as those for

Canada Day Canada Day, formerly known as Dominion Day, is the national day of Canada. A Public holidays in Canada, federal statutory holiday, it celebrates the anniversary of Canadian Confederation which occurred on July 1, 1867, with the passing of the B ...

and New Brunswick Day.

Architecture

The vice-regal residence of New Brunswick was built of load-bearing

masonry Masonry is the craft of building a structure with brick, stone, or similar material, including mortar plastering which are often laid in, bound, and pasted together by mortar (masonry), mortar. The term ''masonry'' can also refer to the buildin ...

walls and timber floor and roof framing, all clad in a

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

exterior. The building, designed by architect James Woolford, is in the Georgian style with touches of

Adam Adam is the name given in Genesis 1–5 to the first human. Adam is the first human-being aware of God, and features as such in various belief systems (including Judaism, Christianity, Gnosticism and Islam). According to Christianity, Adam ...

, being a

hip roof A hip roof, hip-roof or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downward to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope, with variants including Tented roof, tented roofs and others. Thus, a hipped roof has no gables or other ve ...

ed, rectangular, two storey block divided by two perpendicular axes. The main facade is aligned on the entrance and its curved

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cu ...

, above which is an arched niche and, at the roof, a shallow gable pierced by a

rose window Rose window is often used as a generic term applied to a circular window, but is especially used for those found in Gothic cathedrals and churches. The windows are divided into segments by stone mullions and tracery. The term ''rose window'' wa ...

; to either side of this are rows of multi-paned,

sash window A sash window or hung sash window is made of one or more movable panels, or "sashes". The individual sashes are traditionally paned windows, but can now contain an individual sheet (or sheets, in the case of double glazing) of glass. History ...

s, the attic having

wall dormer A dormer is a roofed structure, often containing a window, that projects vertically beyond the plane of a pitched roof. A dormer window (also called ''dormer'') is a form of roof window. Dormers are commonly used to increase the usable spac ...

s, and one storey wings, each with a curved

bay window A bay window is a window space projecting outward from the main walls of a building and forming a bay in a room. A bow window is a form of bay with a curve rather than angular facets; an oriel window is a bay window that does not touch the g ...

. On the main floor is found the drawing room, dining room, music room, library, two conservatories, and the historical lieutenant governor's office; the second floor contains exhibit rooms and the lieutenant governor's present office; and the third floor holds the viceroy's private apartments.

References

External links

Government House
- official site {{NHSC

Barracks in Canada Royal Canadian Mounted Police headquarters Museums in Fredericton Historic house museums in Canada Georgian architecture in Canada Sandstone buildings in Canada Sandstone houses National Historic Sites in New Brunswick Residential buildings in New Brunswick Federal government buildings in New Brunswick

History

Use

Architecture

See also

References

External links